Concrete and wooden stumps and piers are commonly used to support building structures constructed from timber beams, fabricated steel beams, aluminium beams and other structural materials. The concrete and wooden stumps and piers support a frame structure adapted to support flooring materials of various types to which internal frames constructed of various materials are in turn attached to form the complete building structure. The installation of concrete or wooden stumps or piers is labour intensive, requiring numerous holes and/or footings to be formed in the ground followed by the installation of the stumps or piers set at the required levels. Where a building is to be constructed on unstable soils, the stumps must be buried to a level where stable soil is present to provide the necessary support for the stump.
As a result of extensive testing and investigation, an alternative constructional support which performs satisfactorily in most soil types, including unstable soils or reactive clays, has been developed. The support can be installed by relatively unskilled operators, and does not require excavation or the formation of concrete footings.
The patent literature discloses several pile arrangements with angular anchor legs, such as SU949066 and SU947284, but these arrangements are not suitable for use in most domestic constructions. Similarly, New Zealand Patent 272260 discloses a driven foundation post arrangement with angled diagonally placed anchor posts. This arrangement does not lend itself to adaption from a driven foundation post arrangement to a relatively simple building stump replacement.